So, I have an assignment to explore some digital citizenship literature. In ED 601: Intro to Soc. Sci. Research, this would probably be called a literature review. But since the ED 601 lit review is super stressing me out, I like the term exploration a lot better.
So grab your hats, let’s go exploring.
First, I begin with digitalcitizenship.net. A straightforward site. It structures digital citizenship with nine elements. I really like that they begin with the element they refer to as “Digital Access,” emphasizing that not everyone has the same access to technology. This was something that I found critical to recognize as I completed my year of student teaching. Many of my students did not have internet access at home. This heavily influenced my view and implementation of homework.
The nine elements were explained succinctly, and the site has a list of resources and publications, which is useful.
However, although the copyright says 2017, the aesthetics of site seems a bit dated and it definitely lacks some of the little black dress elegance that many modern sites have. Yes, Beauty and the Beast has taught us once again that looks aren’t everything (and that you’ll eventually get over being held hostage), but I do think aesthetics count for something.
The second piece of literature I found interesting and related to my upcoming career as a teacher is an article called “P-20 Model of Digital Citizenship” by Curran and Ribble (2017). This focuses on the educating and molding of digital citizens from preschool to adulthood. It seemed odd to learn about digital citizenship through what I thought was a cut and dry scholarly article, but their definition of digital citizenship definitely caught my attention:
At last, let’s end with Common Sense Education. I had never heard of this site before doing this assignment, and to be honest, the name reminded me of a right-wing website that my uncle is always sharing articles from. However, just a brief glance told me that it was nothing like it.
